1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to a method and device for examining interrelated objects on a computer network. The present invention is adapted for use with the Internet""s world wide web, but it is generally applicable to any network which provides files or xe2x80x9cpagesxe2x80x9d having links that allow retrieval of other pages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A generalized client-server computing network 2 is shown in FIG. 1. Network 2 has several servers 4, 6, 8 and 10 which are interconnected, either directly to each other or indirectly through one of the other servers. Each server is essentially a stand-alone computer system (having a processor, a memory device, and a communications device), but has been adapted (programmed) for one primary purpose, that of providing information to individual users at client workstation 12. Workstation 12 can also be stand-alone computer systems, or xe2x80x9cdumberxe2x80x9d systems adapted for limited use with network 2. The information provided can be in the form of programs which run locally on a given workstation 12, or in the form of data such as files used by other programs. Users can also communicate with each other in real-time as well as by delayed file delivery, i.e., users connected to the same server can all communicate with each other without the need for the network 2, and users at different servers, such as servers 4 and 6, can communicate with each other via network 2. The network can be local in nature, or can be further connected to other systems (not shown) as indicated with servers 8 and 10.
The construction of network 2 is also generally applicable to the Internet. Conventional protocols and services have been established which allow transfer of various types of information, including electronic mail, simple file transfers via FTP, remote computing via TELNET, gopher searching, Usenet newsgroups, and hypertext file delivery via the world wide web. A given server can be dedicated to performing one of these operations or running multiple services. Internet services are typically accessed by specifying a unique address, or universal resource locator (URL). The URL has two basic components, the protocol to be used, and the object pathname. For example, the URL xe2x80x9chttp://www.uspto.govxe2x80x9d (home page for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) specifies a hypertext transfer protocol (xe2x80x9chttpxe2x80x9d) and a pathname of the server (xe2x80x9cwww.uspto.govxe2x80x9d). The server name is associated with a unique numeric value (TCP/IP address).
The present invention relates to examination of interrelated files on a network like the Internet, but is particularly applicable to the world wide web, which provides files that are conveniently linked for user access. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a group 14 of files or xe2x80x9cpagesxe2x80x9d 16a-16h are interrelated by providing hypertext links in each of the files. A hypertext link is an image that is viewable on the workstation""s display 18, which can be selected by the user (e.g., using a pointing device or xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d) and which then automatically instructs client workstation 12 to request another page associated with that particular hypertext link (i.e., issue another URL). A hypertext link may appear as a picture or as a word or sentence, possibly underlined or otherwise accentuated to indicate that it is a link and not just normal, informative text.
A world wide web page may have text, graphic (still) images, and even multimedia objects such as sound recordings or moving video clips. A hypertext page, if more than just text, is usually constructed by loading several separate files, e.g., the hypertext file xe2x80x9cmain.htmlxe2x80x9d might include a reference to a graphic image file xe2x80x9cpicture.gifxe2x80x9d or to a sound file xe2x80x9cbeep.wav.xe2x80x9d When a client workstation 12 sends a request to a server for a page, such as page 16a, the transmits (at least partially) the main hypertext file associated with the page, and then loads, either sequentially or simultaneously, the other files associated with the page. A given file may be transmitted as several separate pieces via TCP/IP protocol. The constructed page is then displayed on the workstation monitor 18 as shown in FIG. 2. A page may be xe2x80x9clargerxe2x80x9d than the physical size of the monitor screen, and techniques such as scroll bars are used by the viewing software (the web browser) to view different portions of the page.
As also shown in FIG. 2, the interrelated files usually have a hierarchy wherein one page (16b) appears to be the main page, i.e., at the root of the tree-like structure of linked files. This main page is often referred to as a xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d page for that set of files. For example, a set of pages (web site) dealing with technical support for a particular computer hardware system might have a home page with general information on the computer manufacturer and links to other, more detailed pages that discuss specific hardware components. The pages and their links are created by a programmer who is referred to as a webmaster. Sometimes a webmaster will place a hypertext link in a web page that allows the user to return directly to the home page, but often there is no indication of where a particular page is located with respect to the hierarchy of interrelated files, nor any simple link for moving back (up) toward the home page. For example, in FIG. 2, if page 16a is first retrieved (before retrieving home page 16b) then the user may not be aware that there is a home page which might be more useful in directing the user to desired information or point of interest.
This lack of orientation can make navigation of the world wide web more difficult, requiring the user to go up and down a certain number of links before the desired information is finally found. For this and other reasons, it is often difficult to find a particular web page. Some Internet services such as Yahoo have organized links under topics of information which helps, but most web pages just have flat lists of page links. Even designers of services like Yahoo are at a disadvantage because they do not have the original webmaster""s information plan for each site 14. Links typically do not follow an organized, directory-like structure. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a more organized approach to examining and navigating web pages. It would bed particularly advantageous to devise a method which allows visibility of the site hierarchy.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a method of examining a set of objects on a computer network, such as web pages, which are interrelated by links between the objects.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method which imparts the relationship of the linked objects, including identification of the primary object (home page), if any.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a method which simplifies navigation among a set of such interrelated objects.
The foregoing objects are achieved in a method of examining interrelated objects residing on one or more servers on a computer network (such as pages on the world wide web), generally comprising the steps of creating a links object having information on links between the interrelated objects, requesting (by a client workstation) one of the interrelated objects, and in response to the request, loading the links object on the client workstation. The links object information establishes a relationship of the interrelated objects, preferably indicating the main object of the object set (home page of the web site). The links object can further be designed to allow quick determination of what the link nodes contain, e.g., by providing titles indicating the contents of the nodes. The web links object can be created prior to the workstation request (such as by the web site designer) and stored on one of the servers, or the server can dynamically create the web links object by analyzing the interrelated objects. Alternatively, the workstation can perform the analysis to dynamically create the links object. A web links object can include nested links objects. The method of the present invention offers several advantages to different service providers on the network, to the end user, and to the web site designer by allowing each of them to refer to the original web site architecture when searching for information.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.